3 Camp Flaming Arrow Hits the Spot

CAMP FLAMING ARROW HITS THE SPOT

There are certain things a camp has to have. The first thing is counselors. The people who run camps are called counselors. They make all the decisions and they are prepared for any-thing. Plus, everyone has to do what they say. "Counselor Ivy," said Bean. She saluted. "Counselor Bean," said Ivy. She saluted, too. Bean put the ring of duct tape on her arm. If you had duct tape, you were prepared for anything. "Okay, now let's make some decisions. The first thing we have to decide is the name." "Okay," said Ivy. "What do you want to call it?" "Something good," said Bean. "Right." "Something cool," Bean said. "Right. Cool," agreed Ivy. "And something kind of tough-sounding," Bean went on. "Something that will make people wish they went to our camp. Like Camp Flaming Arrow." Flaming arrows were totally

cool and tough. Bean had seen them in a movie. They shot through the air and whatever they hit burned to a crisp. "Or Camp Neanderthal," said Ivy dreamily. "Neanderthals are cool and tough." Bean had never heard of Neanderthals, so Ivy explained that they were long-gone cave people who were maybe short and stumpy, but definitely brave. They clubbed saber-toothed tigers over the head, they were so brave. Bean had to agree: Neanderthals were pretty cool. They were just as cool as flaming arrows. How could they choose between them? "Eenie-meenie," Ivy suggested. So they eenie-meenied, and when flaming arrows won, Ivy didn't even mind very much, because Camp Flaming Arrow was such a great name. Who wouldn't want to be in Camp Flaming Arrow? Another reason Ivy didn't mind very much about eenie-meenie was that she had her own great idea right afterward. It was about the tent. They needed a tent. No tent, no camp. But unfortunately, neither Ivy nor Bean had a tent

handy. Where could they get one? For a few minutes, they were stumped. Then Ivy got her great idea. "Hey!" she said and jumped to her feet. "My mom got new curtains!" She began to run toward her house. Bean didn't think that was very exciting. But, as she found out when Ivy came back, the new curtains were not the exciting part. The exciting part was the old curtains. Ivy had fished them out of the garbage, four long white pieces of cloth, perfect for tent-making. She and Bean laid the cloth out on the grass and duct- taped the tops of the curtains together to make one superwide piece of white cloth. Ta-DA! Now

they had a tent. "All we have to do is throw it over that branch and Camp Flaming Arrow can begin," said Ivy, pointing to the plum tree. "No," said Bean. "Camp Flaming Arrow isn't here." Ivy looked confused. "Then where is it?" "Monkey Park," said Bean firmly. "Real camps are at Monkey Park." Bean's mom said okay. In her backpack, Bean placed a safety pin, a Santa hat with a beard attached to it, and a wolf mask left over from Halloween. She carried a big sign that said Camp Flaming Arrow in her hands, so it wouldn't get crumpled. Presto! She was ready for camp. Ivy's mom said okay. Ivy got the tent into her backpack, but there wasn't much room for anything else. She slipped in a few Band-Aids. Better safe than sorry, just like teachers always said. At the last minute, she jammed in her

magnifying glass as well. She was ready for camp. "BYE!" they screeched to their mothers. At the edge of the park, they stopped. "Whoa, Nellie," Bean said. Monkey Park was bursting with kids. On the big flat field, there were two soccer games going on, with another pack of kids jumping up and down on the side.